This invention relates to a shuttle for weaving machines, having a center piece and a covering of resin-impregnated fabric webs which surrounds the center pieces.
In known shuttles of this type the cover is either made of two parts, each part forming one wall of the shuttle, or the cover consists of a single part which is formed by fabric webs wound endlessly around the center piece.
In the case of shuttles having a bipartite cover, the fabric webs extend exclusively parallel to the longitudinal axis of the shuttle and are cut in the region of the reductions in cross-section towards the tips of the shuttle and are exposed at their ends. The exposed ends of the fabric webs represent a region of reduced strength. It has been found that this type of shuttle during operation tears relatively rapidly in the vicinity of the tip so that the shuttles become unusable.
By the wrapping of the center piece with endlessly wound fabric webs, the above disadvantage, at first sight, appears to be done away with; however, the following consideration shows that this is not so: As is known, in the production of shuttles provided with a covering of resin-impregnated fabric webs, the cover, while still not dry, is pressed against the center and thereby compressed to a fraction of its cross-section, for instance to about one-fourth thereof. It is not conceivable that a single-piece cover surrounding the center can withstand this reduction in cross-section without the fabric webs warping and twisting in irregular manner, with the possible formation of cavities and/or wrinkles in the region where the fabric web is wrapped around the tips of the shuttle. In this way, however, these shuttles are just as greatly weakened in the vicinity of their tips as are shuttles having the bipartite cover.
The closest prior art known to the applicant in connection with this application is the attached U.S. Pat. No. 3,089,522 to Phelps, the general disclosure of which is incorporated by reference in the specification of this application.